


Goose Chase

by petals_sunwards



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Adult Hermione Granger, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awkward Romance, Captain America: The First Avenger, Crossover, Crossover Pairings, Department of Mysteries, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Fluffy Ending, MMFBingo19, One Shot, Romance, Romantic Fluff, Time Travel, Time Turner (Harry Potter), Unspeakable Hermione Granger, World War II
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-02
Updated: 2019-08-02
Packaged: 2020-07-29 14:02:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20083411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/petals_sunwards/pseuds/petals_sunwards
Summary: Every cat loves bright noisy trinkets, Goose was no exception. The time-turner Hermione was fixing had no chance of escaping its destiny to be a cat food.





	Goose Chase

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Marvelously Magical Bingo 2019.  
Square G4: Howard Stark/Hermione Granger
> 
> English is not my first language so I apologise for grammatical errors.   
Also, if you recognise any character, it doesn't belong to me and I don't use them for financial gains.

Working with the Department of Mysteries was exactly as Hermione had expected. There were so many mysterious objects, unread tomes, and unidentified magical creatures. Between grueling work hours and unending discussions, she had found her ultimate heaven. 

Her first task as an unspeakable was fixing the broken time turner. She was the only unspeakable who had time traveled extensively and her magic was attuned to the time-turner she had used all those years ago. She had a plausible idea about how to fix the apparatus but she was unhappy with the trial-and-error approach she had to adopt. There were numerous unstable parameters and she didn’t want to take a risk even in the controlled environment.

Hermione stiffened when a cat jumped on her lap. Well, every unspeakable referred to the creature as the cat, but no one knew her real species. There had been multiple attempts at classifying the animal but all magizoologists had been unsuccessful. No one knew who was the previous owner or any kind of magical powers Goose might possess. If it weren’t for her vicious claws and even fiercer territorial instincts, Goose would have been touring from lab to lab. Goose was not an overly affectionate cat and allowed only the select few an honor to pet her. Hermione had heard the stories about Goose attacking unfortunate ministry employees and incurable scars her claws had left behind. So, the cat napping in her lap had made her equal parts happy and anxious.

Once she was sure the cat was asleep, she went back to studying the time-turner in front of her. It was akin to listening to an out-of-tune musical instrument. To put it in layman’s terms, Hermione knew a song by heart and she knew background music was not correct but she could not figure out which instruments were off-key. She knew she could repair it if she could adjust the frequency of its vibrations but there were no arithmetic way to calculate them.

She poked the display with her wand and cringed when it emitted another distorted magical pulse. She hastily reassured the disgruntled cat who was giving a stink eye to the device and scratched behind her ears to calm it down. Instead of settling down her lap for a nap, the cat climbed on the table ready to pounce on the device.

In the next twenty seconds, three things happened simultaneously. Hermione waved her wand to stop the pulse wave using a complicated chant; tentacles opened from Goose’s mouth, snatching up the rotating device and swallowing it; room went dark and started spinning, throwing both occupants off their feet. 

When Hermione opened her eyes, she saw soldiers clad in well-known uniforms. It was the uniform she had studied in history textbooks and seen in many photos adorning walls of government offices. Hermione gulped when ramifications of the little mishap hit her. Somehow, she had traveled back to world war II era; let loose a magical cat (who may or may not have unusual physiology) in a muggle army camp and she had wandered into the base camp of the allied forces with no identification. The only consolation was that she didn’t remember Grindelwald’s forces ever helped by a man swallowing, time-traveling cat. So, it wouldn’t be too bad, right?

With all innocence she could muster, she asked the first question that popped into her head. “Have you seen my cat?”

* * *

Captain Steve Rogers, Peggy Carter and Howard Stark were informed when an unconscious young lady was found in the camp. She had no weapons on her person except for a wooden stick and no one in the camp identified her as their guest. When they reached the medic camp to interrogate her, her first question asking them about her cat had taken them off guard.

It had taken a minute for Captain Rogers to regain his composure and study the woman. Her well-worn dress littered with cat hair was proof she wasn’t lying about owning a cat. Her hair was in disarray which supported her claim and the wooden stick could be explained as a device to rein in this wayward cat. But the gleam of familiarity in her eyes as she took in her environment; her curiosity at her surrounding as if she hadn’t realized she was in an army camp until now and lack of reaction when she saw him and an instant relief when she saw Peggy; put him on edge. He was not an attention hog, but every person had been awe-struck by him. Their eyes roved over him twice just to make sure he was real and would not disappear. Her gaze had flickered over him as if she had known him for a long time. He opened his mouth to ask who she was but Howard had beat him to it.

“There are a lot of mice around here, a few dogs and even found a bird or two. But not a cat. Who are you and why are you here?” Howard answered her without missing a beat and Steve resisted an urge to groan. It was no way to get answers and this lady, even though a civilian, could be dangerous.

“I am Mia. A loud bang spooked my cat, and I chased after her into the camp. I hit my head and then woke up in bed?”

Before Howard or Steve could question her further, Peggy had ushered them out of the medical tent claiming Hermione was concussed and she would monitor her.

Once left alone, Peggy rounded on Hermione. She quickly pulled out her own wand to summon Hermione’s wand and two portkeys on her person. She put up privacy wards and looked at Hermione expectantly.

“You are Margaret Elizabeth Carter. You are my hero. Pleased to meet you in person Madam Carter. I never thought I would ever meet you. It was your portrait who took my final interview for an unspeakable position.”

When she received an unimpressed eyebrow raise from Peggy Carter, Hermione blushed and stopped her babbling. She took a deep breath and tried to explain the situation better.

“I am Hermione Jean Granger. I am from the future and I was working on fixing a time turner. I succeded but an accident occurred and I landed here. You are mentioned in ‘The Rise and Fall of Dark Lords’ for your notable contributions against Grindelwald. I am not sure what year this is so I can’t tell you everything but I can tell you the idea to integrate you in muggle army was put forth by Unspeakable Croaker. Three days after your appointment you flushed out an agent who was trying to imperious Colonel”. Hermione glanced at her impassive face before continuing once more.

“The interrogation revealed a plan to send soldiers on a doomed mission to provide Hydra with more subjects for experiments. You have been reassigned as a shadow to Howard Stark and Captain Rogers since then by Minister but your orders were issued by Senior Auror Moodey.”

“What was his full name?” Peggy intervened before Hermione launch into her monologue again.

“Umm. It was Senior Auror Althea Moodey nee Proudfoot. Even though her husband was an auror, I am not sure if he worked with the Department of Mysteries.” Hermione finished lamely, not sure what the woman in front of her expected as an answer.

A wide grin spread across Peggy’s face as she received the confirmation as to the young woman in front of her was indeed an unspeakable from the future. The tongue-tying curse placed on her wouldn’t have allowed her to question anyone but an unspeakable about the identity of the person issuing her posting orders. Now that she knew the young witch was on their side and not a spy, she had plans for her.

“I will contact the ministry and establish a cover identity for you. You will stay here as Howard’s assistant and help me keep boys out of trouble. Merlin knows they are a handful.”

* * *

Working along with her childhood hero and the brilliant genius was the best thing that could have happened to Hermione. Peggy was able to forge records for her and adjusted memories around the camp to set her up as Maria ‘Mia’ Cerrera, Howard’s assistant. Even though she was from the future and knew more about technology than her peers, it was hard to keep up with Howard Stark and Hermione enjoyed the challenge. She had been keeping the two boys out of trouble her whole life though this time around it was more like keeping track of Neville and sugar-high Weasley twins. Steve Rogers was a mild mannered and sweet man while Howard Stark was a mischievous flirt with a good heart. He was always tinkering something or other in his lab and Hermione was sure Peggy’s silencing charms kept camp hidden.

As the days passed, she settled into a routine. She trailed after Howard listening to his ramblings, learned hand to hand combat and how to use a gun alongside legendary Captain America. Goose had taken to following 

Steve around and hadn’t scratched anybody yet. There was only one Goose running around and nothing important had gone missing so she assumed Goose had not suffered lasting side effects from snacking on the time turner. All scans on the cat to detect the device had turned up negative, leaving Hermione to question her own sanity. However, after consulting with Peggy, she had choked it up as a magical ability. She had better things to do than obsessing over her cat’s tentacles and seemingly bottomless belly.

While Captain America was a legend, Howard Stark was an enigma. She had heard many things about Captain Steve Rogers from the portrait of Peggy Carter. It felt like she knew the man personally. Their war-time romance had a tragic end, but it was an honor to watch it bloom in front of her. Hermione was more intrigued by Howard Stark. For Peggy, Howard Stark was a brilliant civilian and weapons specialist. But being so close to him Hermione could admire his raw talent, passion and burning curiosity. For all his faults he was one magnetic individual. He was charismatic, witty and fun to be around. He respected her intellect, cross-questioned her every hypothesis instead of disregarding it and held her to a high standard. His mind was like a fountain of ideas, always working on something or other and it engaged her own hyper-active mind on the same level.

She realized she had a crush on Howard when they were on a mission. Peggy had convinced Howard to fly Captain to the HYDRA factory in Austria. Howard had innocently asked Peggy if she wanted to join him after the mission for a late-night fondue and Hermione could totally sympathize with Steve’s jealousy at the question. While Steve thought they were already in a relationship, Hermione was thinking about how it would feel like to receive Howard’s attention in a romantic way. How would be free of the war Howard? How the conversation would flow if they were not in an active war zone? Would he flirt with her with the same passion as their technical debates? Would his eyes hold the same gleam they had when they were creating a weapon’s schematics? Or would he just leave her behind with the war?

She received her answer soon enough. Their mission was successful and Howard, in his usual joking manner, explained to Captain that fondue was just a fondue. Hermione laughed as they talked about the workings of a woman’s mind but Howard’s next sentence broke her heart.

“Thus my good friend, rather than think too much about the mindset of women, I prefer to focus my efforts on my work”. He told the captain without even looking up from files he was reading and reality of his statement had hit Hermione. He indeed focused on his work and made it his life. He would never ever see his assistant as more than a fellow scientist and while he respected and even befriended her, it was all she would get from him.

She stared at Howard as he continued to discuss a vibranium shield and wondered for the first time if the genius was blind when it came to her feelings. Could he really not see how much she liked him? So when an aggravated Peggy stormed into their lab and shot bullets at the stupid shield, Hermione felt a sense of kinship. She followed Peggy out of the tent and then both of them bonded over their stupid crushes. She stayed there for the night, telling Peggy all about her unrequited crush on Howard Stark, how much she missed home and how much she wished Goose would scratch both boys for causing them a heartache.

* * *

Months went by and Hermione continued working alongside Howling commandos. They spent all their time experimenting on the Tesseract and researching new ways to counter Hydra weapons. They were in the war and she was one of the responsible personnel in weapon manufacturing. Though technically she knew they would win the war, it didn’t mean they could stop their efforts. Goose had frequented the labs since her breakdown and Hermione could swear she gave Howard a stink eye whenever Hermione was not looking. She would have thought it was Goose’s protective instincts if Goose didn’t eye the blue cube with the same way she had eyed the time turner. Hermione knew how Goose was with bright trinkets (it explained what happened to all shiny objects in DoM) and she really didn’t want the tesseract to end up as cat food. It took a considerable amount of time in warding the lab and shielding the tesseract from Grindelwald. While juggling all these fronts she buried her feelings for Howard deep into her heart. It still hurt her but she shoved it aside for the time being. It wasn’t time for moping; it was time to defeat their enemies, muggle and magical both.

After the howling commandos left for the mission to apprehend Arnim Zola, Hermione breathed out a sigh of relief. They were working on an intense schedule, trying to prepare resources, getting the team ready and equipped with all weapons and drawing out careful battle plans. Now that they had left, anxiety about what will happen was too much to bear. She silently sat by the radio next to Peggy and Howard. She pulled Peggy in a one-sided hug while Howard stared at her with unfathomable expressions.

“They will be okay. They are going to return home victorious”. She whispered in Peggy’s ears trying to console her friend, even though she knew Peggy will soon lose Steve. She was not sure about Howard’s future. She knew he would build a successful empire, but she didn’t know if she would be any part of it. His personal life had never been revealed and to be honest Hermione was scared to lose his companionship. The war was ending soon. In a few months, Steve Rogers will sacrifice himself to neutralize Red skull. Around the same time, Albus Dumbledore will overpower Grindelwald and peace shall be restored in the world. This gave her a sense of urgency and finality, she didn’t have much time left with Howard. She couldn’t tell him how much she loved him, and with every passing minute, her time with him is coming to an end. Soon he will move on from the war and they will go their separate ways.

She leaned into him, shivering a little. Howard pulled her in a hug and murmured same assurances in her ears. She wasn’t worried about them; she knew they will pull through. She was worried about herself and her broken heart. She was not sure how she would piece herself together once Howard had left her behind. She didn’t stop tears this time. She let them fall freely and Howard gently wiped them away. He pulled her into a tighter embrace and tried to calm her down. He urged her to stop crying and be brave. He told her to pull it together for Peggy, for the sake of other scientists and because he really hated it when she cried.

“ Those eyes light up when you smile Darlin’; tears have no place on that beautiful face of yours” . He whispered in her ears and Hermione managed a watery smile despite herself.

“ I treasure that smile sweetheart. I live for that smile. Every day when I wake up, I ask myself how did I get so lucky to work beside you. There is nothing like arguing with you Darling, nothing like seeing the passion in those beautiful doe eyes. If this wasn’t an army camp, I would have kissed those lips and memorized your smile a long ago. I would kiss away all those tears if you let me.” He had continued and she melted like butter. She looked up tentatively and met his eyes. His eyes were serious, silently telling her he meant every word he said.

She leaned into him a little more, her forehead touching his. She wanted to ask so many questions. Since when? How? And most importantly why now? but she didn’t get to voice any of them because Howard’s lips were on hers, asking a different question altogether. She responded by kissing him back, pulling him close by tugging on his tie. Both of them smiled, a weight lifted off their shoulders.

He pulled back too soon, but she forgot to complain when she saw his blinding smile. He just stared at her for a minute, savoring her smile and memory of their kiss and then went down on one knee.

“ Maria Cerrera, you fill my every day with a sense of adventure and happiness. I can’t imagine my lab, my workshops, my home and my life without you. Will you promise me to be there for all of my life? Will you marry me Mia?”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed this silly one shot.


End file.
